Mumbai Wave of Terror

From DailyMail.co.uk

H/T – Capt. Trips

Gunmen shoot dead 80 people in string of terror attacks and take hostages ‘who have British or U.S. passports’
By Daily Mail Reporter
Last updated at 10:19 PM on 26th November 2008

• At least 80 people dead and 900 injured
• Up to 40 hostages taken, many believed to be Brits
• Two luxury five star hotels targeted
  
• Attacks believed to be the work of Islamic terrorists

The Indian city of Mumbai was torn apart by a string of terror attacks tonight leaving at least 80 people dead, 900 injured and seven Brits taken hostage.

Gunmen wielding assault rifles and hurling grenades targeted two luxury five star hotels, the city’s railway station and a hospital.

Witnesses claimed the terrorists were demanding ‘anyone with a British or American passport’ and gunmen were tonight reported to be holding around 40 Western hostages at the Taj Mahal and Oberoi hotels.

A blaze has broken out in the Taj Mahal hotel and rescue efforts are reported to be underway.

‘These are terrorist strikes in at least seven places. unknown terrorists have gone with automatic weapons and opened fire indiscriminately,’ a state police chief told local television.

One of the gunmen is pictured as a series of attacks in Mumbai kill at least 80 people

Police stand guard after several shootings are reported in the city

A policeman walks with an elderly man after shootings at a railway station

‘At a few places they even used grenades. There have been blasts at a few places.’

An organisation calling itself the Deccan Mujahideen has claimed responsibility for the attacks, but this has not been verified.

Police confirmed that gunman were still holed up in buildings in the city, and the army has reportedly been sent into the Oberoi Hotel.

Awe: Indian police prepare to tackle the chaos in Mumbai

Officers take cover as their city is seiged

Sajjad Karim, a Conservative MEP for the North West of England who is in Mumbai, saw a gunman opening fire in the lobby of the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel.

Speaking by mobile phone from a barricaded basement room, the MEP said he and others had fled from machine-gun fire and had no idea why the hotel was targeted.

A policeman gives water to an injured child at a hospital in Mumbai

An injured person hides behind a wall after the terror attack at a railway station

He said: ‘I was in the lobby of the hotel when gunmen came in and people started running. There were about 25 or 30 of us.

‘Some of us split one way and some another. A gunman just stood there spraying bullets around, right next to me. I managed to turn away and I ran into the hotel kitchen and then we were shunted into a restaurant in the basement.

People grieving as a result of the attacks which have left at least 80 dead

‘We are now in the dark in this room and we’ve barricaded all the doors. It’s really bad.’

Mr Karim is part of a delegation of Euro-MPs visiting Mumbai ahead of the forthcoming EU-India summit.

He said that as he ran from the lobby, he saw people falling but did not know the extent of any casualties. He said it seemed to be a ‘random attack’.

Briton Alex Chamberlain, who works for a sports website and was in the city on business, said that the gunmen had burst into Oberoi hotel’s restaurant and herded diners upstairs.

He said he believed they were looking for British and American visitors.

‘They told everybody to stop and put their hands up and asked if there were any British or Americans. My friend said to me, don’t be a hero, don’t say you are British.

‘I am sure that is what this is all about. They were talking about British and Americans specifically.’

He said that he and another man managed to escape the gunmen through a fire exit. They made their way to the lobby and emerged outside to find fire engines and 20 armed policemen, ‘looking as scared as we were’.

Enlarge

The Taj Mahal Palace hotel burns as Mumbai comes under terrorist attack

A gunman opened fire in the lobby of the Taj Mahal Palace hotel

It emerged tonight that Hemant Karkare, the police officer in charge of Mumbai’s anti-terrorist squad, was killed in the violence.

Gordon Brown tonight vowed a ‘vigorous response’ to the attacks. The Prime Minister promised to back the Indian government as it responds to the series of incidents carried out by heavily-armed gunmen.

‘These outrageous attacks in Mumbai will be met with a vigorous response,’ Mr Brown said in a statement.

‘I have sent a message to (Indian) Prime Minister (Manmohan) Singh that the UK stands solidly with his government as they respond, and to offer all necessary help.

‘Urgent action is under way to offer every possible protection to British citizens in the region.’

Foreign Secretary David Miliband added: ‘Today’s attacks in Mumbai which have claimed many innocent victims, remind us, yet again, of the threat we face from violent extremists.

MEP Sajjad Karim fled after seeing a gunman open fire

‘I condemn these attacks unreservedly. Our thoughts are with the families and friends of those killed and injured.’

U.S. President George Bush has been briefed about the attacks and is being kept updated about the situation in Mumbai, the White House said.

India has suffered a wave of bomb attacks in recent years. Most have been blamed on Islamist militants, although police have also arrested suspected Hindu extremists thought to be behind some of the attacks.

Mumbai has been hit repeatedly by terror attacks since March 1993, when Muslim underworld figures tied to Pakistani militants allegedly carried out a series of bombings on Mumbai’s stock exchange, trains, hotels and gas stations.

Authorities say those attacks, which killed 257 people and wounded more than 1,100, were carried out to revenge the deaths of hundreds of Muslims in religious riots which had swept India.

Ten years later, in 2003, 52 people were killed in Mumbai bombings blamed on Muslim militants and in July 2007 a series of seven blasts ripped through railway trains and commuter rail stations. At least 187 died in those attacks.

The Taj Mahal Palace, one of the most famous hotels in India, was home to the England cricket team when they visited Mumbai around two weeks ago.

They were tonight taking advice from the Foreign Office after planning to use the hotel on their return to the city for the team’s second Test Match against India, which is scheduled to start on December 19.

Onlookers stand at the site of a bomb blast in Mumbai

A man displays his wounds following the shootings which have injured hundreds of people

Media relations manager Andrew Walpole said: ‘We will be guided by the Foreign Office and will await developments. We need to get a clearer idea of what the situation is before we react further.’

The team were in the eastern Indian city of Cuttack today after losing their latest one-day game against India.

Meanwhile the attacks have thrown into doubt the participation of county cricket club Middlesex in the forthcoming Twenty20 Champions League.

A policeman stands guard after shootings at a railway station in Mumbai

The team was due to fly out to Mumbai tomorrow and was due to play on the opening day of the competition a week today at Mumbai’s Brabourne Stadium.

A Middlesex spokeswoman said she was unaware of any developments and Middlesex would fly out to India as planned.

The club was thought to be staying at the Taj Mahal hotel during the competition but the county’s spokeswoman refused to confirm this.

A fire burns at the Oberoi hotel in Mumbai

Following is a chronology of some of the major attacks in India in the past five years:

• March 13, 2003 – A bomb attack on a commuter train in Mumbai kills 11 people.

• Aug. 25, 2003 – Two car bombs kill about 60 in Mumbai.

• Aug. 15, 2004 – A bomb explodes in the northeastern state of Assam, killing 16 people, mostly schoolchildren, and wounding dozens.

• Oct. 29, 2005 – Sixty-six people are killed when three blasts rip through markets in New Delhi.

• March 7, 2006 – At least 15 people are killed and 60 wounded in three blasts in the northerly Hindu pilgrimage city of Varanasi.

• July 11, 2006 – More than 180 people are killed in seven bomb explosions at railway stations and on trains in Mumbai that are blamed on Islamist militants.

• Sept. 8, 2006 – At least 32 people are killed in a series of explosions, including one near a mosque, in Malegaon town, 160 miles northeast of Mumbai.

• Feb. 19, 2007 – Two bombs explode aboard a train heading from India to Pakistan; at least 66 passengers, most of them Pakistanis, burn to death.

• May 18, 2007 – A bomb explodes during Friday prayers at a historic mosque in the southern city of Hyderabad, killing 11 worshippers. Police later shoot dead five people in clashes with hundreds of enraged Muslims who protest against the attack.

• Aug. 25, 2007 – Three coordinated explosions at an amusement park and a street stall in Hyderabad kill at least 40 people.

• May 13, 2008 – Seven bombs rip through the crowded streets of the western city of Jaipur, killing at least 63 people in markets and outside Hindu temples.

• July 25 – Eight small bombs hit the IT city of Bangalore, killing at least one woman and wounding at least 15.

• July 26 – At least 16 small bombs explode in Ahmedabad in the state of Gujarat, killing 45 people and wounding 161. A little-known group called the ‘Indian Mujahideen’ claims responsibility for the attack and the May 13 attack in Jaipur.

• Sept 13 – At least five bombs explode in crowded markets and streets in the heart of New Delhi, killing at least 18 people and injuring scores more. The Indian Mujahideen again claim responsibility.

• Nov 26 – At least 80 people were killed in a series of attacks apparently aimed at tourists in India’s financial capital Mumbai on Wednesday. Police said at least 250 people had been wounded.

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